Performance Mods w/ big gains?

[4RUN0326]

My main question is directed to all you performance guys, got a 2000 4runner and am about to put some new tires on along with rims. Really worried about the power loss from 285's but i feel like its the only way to go as 265's just look too small. Really cant afford a supercharger and know about all the basic intake mods and am in the process of completing those. So here it goes, is there anyone out there that has port and polished the intake manifold, heads, and throttle body on 5vzfe. I realize with more the more air flowing i would also need more fuel, would these options be even that much cheaper than a supercharger? Really looking to get just maybe a 30 to 50hp gain?? Planning on doing exhaust header back to help even more if it is worth it

 

[Stick Figure]

Who is porting the heads and intake that you think it would be cheaper than the Supercharger kit?

 

[4RUN0326]

There is a place down the road from me that does custom porting, havent asked prices or anything but i figured it would be less cost than everything i would need to make the supercharger run correctly. From what i have researched that can cost upwards of 4-5grand

 

[the great him]

for $4-5k you could have a SC with headers and full exhaust along with a meth injection kit and have it all dyno'd and tuned properly... you can pick up a TRD SC for around $1500-1800 if you look


porting and polishing is not gonna do you a think until you are running forced injection. and honestly unless you are planing on racing your runner a SC is all the power you will need. if you still want more, its time to look at cheaper alternatives like a V8 swap...


and you can run 285s just fine without power loss... and if you really concerned then regear, thats even cheaper than the SC

 

[4RUN0326]

where can i find a trd s/c for that cheap, looked everywhere and they are running like 2600 now. Anyway with the 285's and 4.88 gears how much mpg's would i loose. Im already getting kinda crappy mileage at 14-15mpg. Maybe a motorvac treatment, fuel filter change and some seafoam can take care of that??

 

[the great him]

keep an eye out for used ones or wrecked tacomas or 4runners some guys have even gotten them for free after doing a little work...

and to run 285 and be back at stock settings i think you would only need to go to 456s. im running e rated 285s and im armored and have a winch up front as well, while my 4runner isnt a nissan GTR, its not a slug, i can still pass cars on back roads if i need to and i can easily over take cars on the freeway while still on the on-ramp.... and i still have my stock 410 gears

 

[4RUN0326]

So how much would re gearing cost and would i need a new rear locker when switching from 4.30's to 4.56 or 4.88? any mpg lost?

 

[PitbullRescuer]

You're worrying for nothing. The loss from 265-285 is next to nothing. Get the tires first and then see how you feel.

 

[gannonrt]

So how much would re gearing cost and would i need a new rear locker when switching from 4.30's to 4.56 or 4.88? any mpg lost?

You can figure out the cost of regearing pretty easily through Drivetrain Specialists East Coast Gear Supply. They'll send you are rear third member with the gears you want in it and a front diff also set up with those gears. You swap them into your truck and send your cores back to them. They give you a refund. I would guess that you are looking at $1800 for that. ARKRAWLER did about a year ago so he could run 35s so he'd have recent pricing.

 

[the great him]

gears can be had a lot cheaper than that... but if you want to pay someone else to do it then yeah plan on at least $1000. but as PBR said you wont notice the difference in performance and if you do, give it two weeks and you most deff wont be able to tell. honestly i dont think you could tell even if you had two runners side by side.

 

[J. B.]

Just felt like chiming in on the fuel economy portion of this....

I just completed about 3000 miles from the SF bay area to Banff, Canada and back. Last week. Rain, snow, wind, mountains, cold, snowboarding... etc....

Averaged 16.4 mpg. 285 75 16 duratracs, 3.4L Supercharged. Doug Thorley Headers and exhaust. URD 2.2 pulley and 7th injector. 5spd. 4.10 gears. ~ 3" lift.

I actually want to dyno my truck.... I have a feeling that it will put out about 235-240 hp at the wheels.

 

[Ronin1082]

Just felt like chiming in on the fuel economy portion of this....

I just completed about 3000 miles from the SF bay area to Banff, Canada and back. Last week. Rain, snow, wind, mountains, cold, snowboarding... etc....

Averaged 16.4 mpg. 285 75 16 duratracs, 3.4L Supercharged. Doug Thorley Headers and exhaust. URD 2.2 pulley and 7th injector. 5spd. 4.10 gears. ~ 3" lift.

I actually want to dyno my truck.... I have a feeling that it will put out about 235-240 hp at the wheels.

My wife used to live in Red Deer. Raised in the Vegreville area. She used to go to Banff before she move to Chicago with me.

 

[Stick Figure]

There is a place down the road from me that does custom porting, havent asked prices or anything but i figured it would be less cost than everything i would need to make the supercharger run correctly. From what i have researched that can cost upwards of 4-5grand

I know this thread has taken a bit of a different direction but to finish the discussion about porting and polishing: A standard clean up port job would net you some additional power for sure, but probably nothing like what you are looking for. For maximum gains you would need to put the heads on a flow bench and work them slowly until you see the see the kind of numbers you want. The problem is you don't know what the maximum is in this kind of work until you go to far with it. Unfortunately this generally means welding or start over with fresh heads now that you know the limits.

Assuming you get great gains out of the cylinder head port work, you would still want a cam upgrade to utilize this new found airflow. While your going for more wild cams you might as well throw some pistons at it to bring the compression up to where it should be to still have good compression on cams with a good amount of overlap.


Bottom line, NA upgrades usually require a complete package to be well thought out and done at the same time and while the individual components are cheaper, at the end of the day you probably could have boosted the same motor for a cheaper overall cost with far greater power results.

 

[Steve240]

^ Agreed port and polish would be one of the last upgrades I do on a fully built motor to try and net the most gains from the upgrades.

for the 4runner I would do exhuast, headers, ditch the clutch fan for e fans, and add a high flow filter with the silencer removed.

 

[rideexileex]

I had 285's and 4.10's with the super charger and loved it... I could cruise on the highway to the trails just fine. If you have the 4.30's, I wouldnt worry about gears until after you super charge.

Now with the 35's, I can't stand it. I'm in the process of gearing now.

 

[BrianSD_42]

Really looking to get just maybe a 30 to 50hp gain??

If that is what you "want" then you really should just buy a different truck. Sorry dude but these things were never meant to be racecars.